Going it Alone
by ElizabethWriter
Summary: Grace is bullied at school and ends up injured. What happens when her best attempt at hiding it from Danno fails?


**A/N: Here's a quick fic of Grace needing her Danno. She's about 11 here. I intend for this to be a one shot, but if you want me to continue it/have idea for more, let me know :)**

"Hey there, Grace," a cold voice said, sitting across from her at the picnic table. Grace looked up from her worksheet with a sigh, seeing Amanda and two friends.

School had just gotten out and Grace sat down to start her homework while she waited for the bus. All the other girls were on their phones texting, taking pictures and chatting. Middle school was weird for Grace. Everyone seemed so preoccupied with stupid things and she felt different from the girls at school. It made her feel so alone. Amanda and her friends loved to point it out and torment her for it.

Grace looked back down, trying to ignore them, and continued to do her homework.

"Anti-social Grace. Gees. It's no wonder you don't have friends," Amanda said with a chuckle.

 _Not again,_ Grace thought to herself. For the past few weeks, Amanda had really started to pick on her. It started out as little things, like not sitting with her at lunch or a quick dirty look in passing, but now she had become more vocal about it, even getting friends to join in. As much as it annoyed Grace that she even cared, it hurt her feelings.

"Amanda," Grace started, hoping she could say something to get them to go away. Grace's bus was arriving and she stuffed her work into the bag next to her and zipped it quickly.

"Oh, she speaks!" Amanda said mockingly. Grace slung her bag over her shoulder and stood up to walk across the parking lot.

"My bus is here," Grace said, looking at the ground as she passed. The girls didn't hesitant to follow. Grace stepped down off the sidewalk and Amanda popped up, blocking her path.

"So, which house are you going to, Grace? Mom or Dad?" She said with a cruel smirk. Grace reached her limit at this comment. Of all the mean things Amanda had said, it hurt Grace the most when she used Grace's divorced parents as the butt of a joke.

"Get out of my way, Amanda," Grace seethed.

Amanda appeared to be walking back to the table, but she stepped forward and threw a hand into Grace's shoulder, shoving her to the ground. Grace tried to break her own fall with her elbow, but her side collided with the edge of curb before she could. Grace scrambled back to her feet, readjusting the bag on her shoulder while others laughed at her from the grass. She sniffled and held back her tears, willing herself to calm down.

She walked away, never looking back at the people behind her. She climbed the stairs of the bus as the rubbery smell of fake leather seats filled her nose.

"Hey, are you okay?" the bus driver asked as she held out a hand to stop her. Grace followed her gaze and saw that she was referring to the large scrape now an angry color red on her forearm.

"Oh, um, yeah, just a scratch," Grace replied, forcing a smile.

The bus driver seemed satisfied with her answer and Grace proceeded down the aisle, finding a seat to slide into. She sat down and started to remove the bag from her arm, but quickly stopped when pain stabbed her side. She tried again, more carefully this time, and succeeded. The bus lurched forward and pulled away. She pulled up her shirt and looked at her ribs, which were beginning to bruise. She was starting to feel the effect of the concrete.

The bus jumped when they passed over bumps in the road, and Grace felt it stinging her ribs. She tried to steady her breathing, and it slowly helped the pain subside.

As her stop approached, she carefully slid on her bag and was relieved that it caused no pain. She made her way off the bus, putting a smile on her face. She didn't want Danno to know anything happened. She got to the door and gently pushed it open.

"Hey Grace!" Danno greeted her enthusiastically.

"Hi Danno," Grace said while dropping her bag, truly happy to see someone who loved her.

Danny knelt down to give her a hug. As he took her in his arms, he heard a small whimper in his ear as her body stiffened. His paternal instincts immediately kicked in, withdrawing away from her but keeping his hands on her shoulders.

"Grace?" He inquired. He saw a look of pain being brushed away from her face. "Grace what's wrong? Are you hurt?" He asked quickly, his eyes darting over her body to look for clues. He couldn't see the scrape on the other side of Grace's arm.

"No, I just—" she cut off, leaning forward and screwing her eyes shut as another pain shot through her ribs. _So much for not telling Dad,_ she thought to herself.

Danny had gone into high alert at this point. "Grace," he nearly shouted, "What hurts?"

Grace really didn't have choice now.

"My ribs," she said sadly to the ground. She needed to step backward to balance herself.

"Okay, okay" Danny said softly and soothingly. "Come'ere," he said, gently seating her on the floor. He took both of her hands. "Tell me what happened," He spoke evenly. Grace took a breath as the pain subsided again.

"I tripped and fell and hit them on the edge of a curb," She said with a blink.

"Did you hit anything else?" Danny asked with a crease in his forehead. Grace bent her elbow to show him the scrape. He gingerly took her wrist to examine the wound closer.

"It doesn't hurt though," She said honestly and withdrew her arm, using her hand to guard her ribs. Danny dropped his head to follow her hand. He looked up at her from underneath his brows.

"I'm going to take a look, okay?" he said sweetly. Grace nodded, taking her hand away.

He pulled up the hem of her shirt and saw the linear purple splotch on her ribs.

"What did you trip on?" Danny asked, dropping the fabric. Grace's eyes grew large as she hesitated. She didn't want to lie to him. Danny caught the look in her eyes easily. He tilted his head. Her breathing became faster.

"I fell on… a… there was a…" She fumbled, nervously glancing around as tears collected in her eyes.

"Grace," Danny interrupted her, placing a hand on her cheek, "tell me the truth."

Grace looked at him and shook her head microscopically, fear overwhelming her face.

"It's okay Grace, you can tell me. I'm not going to be mad, but I need to know, okay monkey?" He said lightly and slowly. He wasn't sure what Grace was hiding, but he knew she was scared and it was killing him. Grace inhaled.

"There's a girl at school…" she said shakily, unsure of how to put it into words. "She really doesn't like me," she squeaked out.

"It's okay, Gracie," Danny rubbed her arm sweetly, urging her to go on.

"She was saying mean things… and her friends… and I tried to walk to the bus… but she pushed me to the ground… Everyone was laughing," She told him, becoming increasingly more upset. Danny's heart was breaking as he listened to what she went through. He desperately wished he had picked her up that afternoon.

Her tears started to fall and she tried to cry with them, but it hurt her ribs too much. The pain stabbed her and her hand flew up to grip Danny's arm that was outstretched to hold her shoulder.

"Ahhh," she whimpered quietly.

"Shhhh Grace, okay, it's okay baby," he reassured her, realizing that the calmer she was, the less pain she'd feel. "It's all over. I'm going to make sure she leaves you alone, okay?"

Grace nodded appreciatively.

"First, I think we should go the hospital and get your ribs checked out, okay?" He said, ducking his head to make eye contact with her.

She made a pleading face at him.

"I know monkey, but I think we have to," he responded to her silent protest with an apologetic look. "I'm gonna go grab some ice for you, monkey."

He retrieved an icepack a washcloth from the kitchen and applied it as gently as possible to her bruise. She took over holding it to her skin. Danny thought for a moment.

"How long?" he asked, "How long has this girl been teasing you for?"

Grace stared down at the icepack. "A month or so."

Danny's face fell into a mixture of disappointment and sympathy. "Gracie, why didn't you say anything?"

"I… I thought I could handle it," she said as more of a question than a statement. Danny sighed.

"Gracie, I love you so much. You know you can tell me anything, right?" he asked.

She nodded.

"Good, because if anything happens, or if anyone is being mean to you, I want you to tell me, okay? You don't have to go through anything alone, Gracie. I'm here," He said sincerely.

Grace nodded as a tear rolled down her face. She reached out for him and he gently hugged her, very careful of her injury.

"I love you Danno," she whispered.

"I love you too," He said with a sad smile. He pulled away but still held onto her shoulders. "Alright monkey, you think you can walk to the car?" he asked.

She nodded in response and Danny slowly helped her off her butt and onto her feet. He stopped to make sure she was steady and then led her out to the Camaro. He helped her into the passenger side and did her buckle for her so she didn't have to move. He went around and climbed into the driver's side. He paused and looked over to find Grace staring at him with a soft smile. He smiled back with a nod and started the car.

 **A/N Please review if you can! Let me know if you want me to expand it too.**


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